Ch. 89 - Meeting an Orange furred mercenary

[I apologize for the lack of a chapter yesterday.]

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"It's not that big of a deal, there's no need to apologize." Shrek scratched the back of his head and replied.

"After all, maybe you're right. I'm indeed just an Ogre. Not worthy of having a companion." Shrek continued while muttering the last sentence to himself, which wasn't heard by Fiona.

"I'm...." At this moment, Fiona wanted to reveal her secret that might help Shrek to raise his confidence in himself, however this secret is something that Fiona has been so embarrassed to share about.

As a beautiful princess, turning into an ugly ogre at night is not just her weakness, but a humiliation and her insecurity.

I mean, who in their right mind would want to become an ugly creature, especially a princess like her.

So, just when Fiona opened her mouth to reveal it, she decided against it.

"Oh? You guys are together? I thought you were having a fight or something." Suddenly, they heard Jin's voice from afar.

Turning both of their heads, when they saw Jin and the gang's presence, Shrek turned a bit angry at him and responded.

"Where the hell have you been? The princess was this close in turning into a dragon's meal and you guys are nowhere to be seen." Shrek angrily said while emphasizing his point by pressing his thumb and index finger a few inches to each other, showing how close Fiona is into becoming a food.

"Sorry about that, Shrek. We just found something interesting and can't help but go over there to take a look." Jin lied through his teeth, not once breaking his mask. Thankfully, he worked as an actor in his past life, so he's quite good at keeping a fake persona.

"Oh really?" Shrek eyed them suspiciously, however there's no point in pursuing the matter further, so he just sighed and said.

"I'm going back to my swamp. All of this is just hurting my head." Shrek grabbed his large green head and said before walking away in huge steps.

"Time for me to do my job." Jin cracked his neck and fingers before muttering to himself.

"Shrek, wait up." Jin ran and chased Shrek as he called out to himself.

"What?!" At this point, Shrek doesn't trust Jin anymore, especially after leaving them with a dragon who's prepared to kill them to the best of her abilities.

"It would be hard for you to walk back home alone. Come with us. We'll send you back to your swamp." Jin offered and Shrek stopped.

He looked at the horizon and he could see nothing but wide but cracked lands without any hint of civilization even if he squinted his eyes. Realizing that Jin was right, Shrek was not embarrassed to ask to give him a ride back to his swamp but thankfully, Jin seems to be capable of reading his mind as he quickly continued when he saw the hesitation on Shrek's face.

"I don't mind it. You can come with us." After Jin's final push, Shrek finally took the opportunity and accepted the offer.

***

After everyone got on the carriage, the three horses, which used to be two but since they added Elsa's horse, it became three, started marching even though Jin wasn't on the driver's seat.

"What the?" Shrek and Fiona were confused as to how the horses were running without a driver.

Meanwhile, Jin simply sat beside Shrek in the carriage.

Seeing that Fiona was now being distracted by Rapunzel, Jin then decided to work his magic on Shrek.

"Tell me, Shrek. Do you know what love is?" Jin asked while taking out a tray of tea cups and tea pot. He poured tea on each cup before offering the other one to Shrek.

"Love? Why are you asking me that? Ask her, she's a human she knows that." Shrek responded curtly. While Jin shook his head and replied.

"That's the point of my question, Shrek. Love is something that not only humans can experience, but other races too like you. God didn't create love just for humans. Love is everywhere, you just need to reach for it." Jin said before taking a sip on his tea.

"Take this tea for example. I made it with love. Now, drink it and tell me what it tastes like." Jin said while gesturing for Shrek's tea cup.

"Okay?" Shrek was weirded out but still grabbed the tea and drank it all in one fell swoop.

"Now, how does it taste?"

"I don't know....It's sweet....and warm, I guess?" Shrek was hesitant at first but still honestly gave his answer.

"That's right, and now, I'm gonna ask you again, do you know what love is?" Jin asked again.

"It's...sweet and warm? Oh..." Shrek answered quickly before realizing Jin's intention.

"Now you know what love is and all that's left is to feel it." Jin said while nodding his head in satisfaction, it looks like Shrek is slowly catching up to him. He then took a sip again and this time, pointed at Fiona, who was busy chatting with Rapunzel and Elsa who just recently joined in the conversation.

"Just like her. How do you think her parents made her?" Jin asked, while feeling funny inside as he feels like he's some kind of teacher teaching his students, especially seeing Shrek putting his fingers below his chin while deep in thinking.

"Uhmmm. Love?" Shrek unsurely answered. He just made a rough guess since they're talking about love here after all, so that's probably the answer.

"Correct. Now, like how you tasted the tea that I made with love, how about you taste the woman her parents made with love?"

"Huh what?" Shrek was both confused and shocked at the same time. Since he quickly caught up and understood the meaning behind Jin's word while at the same time, he was confused if that's what Jin meant when he said that.

"Ehem. I didn't mean anything vulgar about it, I was simply implying that things or people are worth giving a try in love. Which is why I'm encouraging you to try to ask her out. Your swamp will not go anywhere but love? Once it passes by you, it will be hard to catch it. Remember this, Shrek. You will only know that you love someone when she's already away from your reach." Jin uttered for the last time and stopped when he noticed the look of enlightenment slowly appearing on Shrek's face as time went by.

"..." As the seed has been planted, all that's left is to wait for it to grow and blossom and that's where the result will come out. All it takes is simply patience.

Soon after that, for the rest of the journey, Shrek stayed quiet in his seat and even though Donkey tried to talk to him from time to time, Shrek simply responded with a nod or simply ignoring Donkey's antics.

What Jin noticed was that from time to time, Shrek would sometimes glance at Fiona before looking away when Fiona's womanly instincts acts up and glances back at Shrek.

'Ahh, youth. Wait, I'm still in my youth, what the hell am I talking about?' Jin wanted to sigh in relaxation before realizing what he just said in his mind.

However, their peaceful journey was interrupted suddenly when a small but pointy blade suddenly stabbed itself on the walls of the carriage.

"Huh?" Curious on who would dare to attack them since the carriage belongs to the royals, which means that everyone must know that the carriage isn't any normal carriage that a bandit can attack.

Filled with curiosity, Jin went outside and just as soon as he stepped on the ground, he suddenly felt the air go crazy, blowing his hair while Jin noticed a small orange furred cat wearing a set of french style fedora hat with a leaf while a belt that wraps around his waist as his rapier was resting on it.

"Monsieur human. It seems fate has thrown us together in the dance of battle. Prepare yourself, for you are about to become a subject of a most legendary fairy tale figure. Don't worry, I'll make sure to write your name once my fairy tale history becomes known." The orange standing cat said his intro while Jin kept a straight face.

'This is Puss in Boots, right? Why is he here and why is he looking at me like I am some kind of his prey.' Jin mentally smiled wryly as he decided to ask the reason for Puss's presence.

"May I know why someone of your standing is standing in front of me?" Obviously, he knows Puss's personality, so if he wants to get any information out of him, he would need to give him a slight compliment while smoothly mixing in his question.

"Ahh, I knew my fame would reach even in another continent. Fear me! For I am the Puss in Boots and as a mercenary, I am offered quite a high price for your head. So high, that I could just live the rest of my life in relaxation with that amount of gold." Puss answered meticulously while looking as if he was day dreaming.

'Hmm, So I got a bounty on my head? It's not a surprise because of my previous feats.' Jin mentally nodded his head in understanding.

"Well, it looks like you're here for that amount, aren't you? The question is, are you worthy to receive that amount of gold by fighting me?" Jin turned serious and had a stare-down with Puss.

Meanwhile, Puss slickly swiped the edge of his fedora hat while licking his lips.

"You don't have to ask, le monsieur." While speaking, Puss's eyes turned sharp, indicating that his body was prepared for battle.

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[Let's reach at least 15 in Power Rankings and in return, I'll give a bonus chapter next Monday.]

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[Next Chapter: Ch. 90 - Puss almost lost his boots]

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